Food Services

Breakfast and lunch will served at no cost to those children who qualify for free and reduced-price meals in grades K-12. All other students will be charged the rates shown below.

	Breakfast		Lunch
	Regular	Reduced-Price	Regular	Reduced-Price
K-5	$2.75	$0	$4.25	$0
6-8	$3	$0	$4.75	$0
9-12	$3	$0	$5	$0
Adult	$4	—	$6	—
Milk Only	$0.75	—	$0.75	—

Families who meet certain income requirements through the National School Lunch Program are eligible for free breakfast and lunch each day, as well as fee waivers for college applications, admissions tests and athletic programs. 

Please note, as of 2024-25, the Free/Reduced-Price Meals Application is now called the Child Nutrition Eligibility & Education Benefit (CNEEB) Application.

Free/Reduced Price Meals webpage

Effective July 1, 2017, Tahoma School District is required to implement a meal charge policy and communicate to families and school staff how it will handle situations where children have insufficient funds to pay for school meals. Per USDA regulations, the meal charge policy must be communicated at the beginning of each school year to prevent confusion for families and school staff and to promote effective financial management of the school meal programs. School meal programs aim to provide nutritious meals to students during the school day. Students may receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to them if they are eligible for Free/Reduced-Price Meals. Children who do not qualify for free meals may purchase meals at a subsidized cost, at either the reduced price or paid rate. Parents/Guardians are responsible for paying for all school meals served to their child(ren) including meals that were served prior to qualifying for free or reduced-price meals.

Charging Limits

Students who do not have money in their cafeteria account or in hand to cover the cost of the meal at the time of meal service may charge for meals. The debit floor is $21.25 for students in grades K–5, and $25 for students in grades 6–12.

Negative Balance Notification

During the school year, the District will notify families weekly via ParentSquare when their child has a negative balance. School food service professionals are required to keep low and negative balances confidential. Therefore, the District may not enlist the assistance of unauthorized persons such as parent volunteers to follow up with payment reminders and debt collection. The food services office staff communicates account balances and payment reminders directly to parents/guardians over the phone or via email.

Debt Collection

The District is required to maintain records related to meal charging, debt collection and bad debt. Negative balances remain on students’ accounts until they are paid off. Negative balances must be paid off by the end of each school year. Unpaid meal charges may not be carried over to the next school year. Food Services will provide meal statements including payments and purchases on request. Official transcripts for seniors may be withheld until outstanding fees, fines and negative cafeteria balances are paid off.

Refunds

Families may request a refund of funds remaining in their child’s cafeteria account. Please email your refund request to foodservicehelp@tahomasd.us. Alternatively, families may choose to donate the funds remaining in their child's food service account. 

Donations

Food Services accepts donations from families and community members to help pay for regular meals for students with insufficient funds.  Donations are used to pay off or pay down negative account balances, based on the community member’s request. Please contact the food services office at (425) 413-3450 with questions related to donations for student accounts with insufficient funds.

Purchases and Account Balances

Parents/guardians may access their child’s cafeteria account online through Skyward Family Access. Parents may choose to select low balance notification in Skyward Family Access when the balance in their child’s account is positive but low. Please contact your child’s school registrar if you need assistance to create your user name and password required to access Skyward Family Access.

To make online payments, visit InTouch Payments - Tahoma School District.  Checks and cash are accepted by the school’s lunchroom cashier either as a pre-paid deposit to a student’s account or for purchasing individual meals, milk or a la carte items. Write your child’s first and last name in the memo line. Checks should be payable to: Tahoma Food Services. Every student has a school meal account. Parents/guardians may monitor their student’s account history and view purchases without a fee in Skyward Family Access. Parents may set a la Carte spending limits, and they may transfer funds between school meal accounts of siblings. The student’s account balance is carried forward to the next school year. Please contact Nutrition Services at foodservicehelp@tahomasd.us for more information.

The District sends parents/guardians a notice through ParentSquare when their student has a negative account balance. While Tahoma Nutrition Services will make every effort to notify the parent/guardian when a student has insufficient funds to purchase school meals, it is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to monitor the student’s account balance and ensure that funds are available by prepaying for school meals or sending a cash or check payment with their student.

Families may also consider completing an application for free and reduced priced meals at any time during the school year. 

USDA Child Nutrition Programs support access to healthy meals to all children, including children with disabilities who have special dietary needs. Disability is defined as an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. This can include allergies and digestive conditions. However, it does not include personal diet preferences.

To make a Special Dietary Accommodations request, please complete and return the Request for Special Dietary Accommodations Form, either to foodservicehelp@tahomasd.us or in person to your school's front office:

• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations — English
• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations — Spanish
• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations — Chinese
• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations — Marshallese
• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations — Russian
• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations — Somali
• Request for Special Dietary Accommodations — Vietnamese

Policy 6700 - Nutrition

Procedure 6700P - Nutrition

Policy 6702 - Wellness

Procedure 6702P - Wellness

Complaints of discrimination must be filed within 180 days of the alleged discrimination.  

Complaints of discrimination should be given to the Chief Nutrition Officer of Child Nutrition Services, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Chief Nutrition Officer will forward to the Food & Nutrition Service, Western Regional Office, San Francisco.

Complaints of discrimination may be written or verbal. Use of a form is not required for a person filing a complaint. If a person is unwilling, unable, or not inclined to put the complaint in writing, the person taking the complaint shall do so. (Complaint Form linked here, page 2)

Complaints of discrimination should contain as much of the following information as possible:  

1. Name, address, email address, and telephone number or other means of containing the complainant.
2. The specific location and name of the entity providing the benefits.  
3. A description of a specific action that caused the complainant to believe that discrimination was a factor.  
4. Basis on which a complainant feels that discrimination occurred (race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation to prior civil rights activity).
5. Names and titles, if known, and addresses of persons who may have knowledge of the discriminatory action.  
6. The date(s) of the alleged discriminatory actions occurred or the duration of such action.  

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation.

The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

1. Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410
2. Fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442
3. Email: Program.Intake@usda.gov